Went Down to Move Car, Flooded in Seconds... "Even Adult Men Can't Escape"

[Anchor]

During the recent torrential downpours, vehicles were swept away on roads and underground parking lots became completely submerged. Fortunately, this did not lead to casualties. When heavy rain pours and water rises like this, evacuating takes priority over saving vehicles.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the details.

[Reporter]

At an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, which was struck by extreme downpours at dawn yesterday (August 17), only the tops of vehicles are barely visible as residents sit slumped at the entrance, helplessly watching their cars submerge.

By the time the announcement to move vehicles was made, water had already rushed in.

[Resident, Yangjeong-dong, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province: There was an announcement at dawn telling us to move our cars. So I went down, but it was already completely flooded. By the time I went down, the water had already risen enough to submerge the cars.]

[Park Chul-seok / Resident, Yangjeong-dong, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province: My wife was trapped in the elevator yesterday. She was trapped for about 30 minutes before barely escaping, with the water up to her neck. Because of the trauma...]

Once an underground parking lot begins to flood, the entrance and exit ramps immediately become conduits for a rapid rush of incoming water.

[Cho Won-chul / Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University: When water flows down the entrance of an underground parking lot at a depth of 15 cm or more, the speed exceeds 2 meters per second, making it difficult for even a reasonably strong man to climb back up.]

[Lee Young-joo / Professor, Department of Fire and Disaster Protection, Kyungil University: Whether the water rises a little or a lot is not the issue. When you hear that an underground parking lot is flooding, you must not go down there.]

In fact, during Typhoon Hinnamnor in 2022, seven residents at an apartment complex in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, were trapped by rapidly rising water and died after heading down to the underground parking lot to move their cars.

People might think driving is still possible up to knee-deep water, but once water rises to submerge the car tires, even an adult man will struggle to open the car door and get out alone.

[Let's try opening the door. It is not easy to open.]

Installing flood barriers at the entrance of an underground parking lot can help delay rainwater from rushing in.

[Cho Won-chul / Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University: We need to manufacture flood barriers to block water at the entrance so it cannot get in. If we set them up to about 1 meter.]

Experts unanimously advised that if heavy rain is forecasted, vehicles should be moved in advance, and if flooding has already begun, giving up on the car entirely is the safest choice.

(Camera Reporter: Yoon Hyung | Video Editor: Lee Sang-min | Footage Provided by: Korea Transportation Safety Authority)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.